Oklahoma man shot by police mistaken for Missouri escapee

SALLISAW, Oklahoma (AP) — Authorities said a knife-wielding Oklahoma man who was fatally shot by police had been reported as a possible escapee from the jail in Pettis County, Missouri.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it's investigating after 27-year-old Shawn Taylor Watie of Stilwell was shot by two officers Thursday when he "came after" them with a knife and died later at a hospital.

OSBI spokeswoman Brook Arbeitman said the officers were investigating reports of a suspicious man walking on Highway 59 who matched the description of 30-year-old Travis Lee Davis, who escaped from his cell over the weekend.

Davis was in jail for kidnapping and domestic assault, among other charges.

Police in Heavener, Oklahoma, arrested Davis on Wednesday after a woman told officers she had been kidnapped by Davis and forced to drive at gunpoint.

Davis apparently fell asleep at a travel plaza and the woman got away to call for help, according to police.

Officers said they arrested Davis, but he got broke through the cage separating the back and front of the patrol car. He then drove off in the car, police said.

Officers said he brought in search dogs to help find him but thought he might have jumped onto a passing freight train.

Watie's brother-in-law, Jerod Neal, told KFSM-TV that Watie was walking to work when he was shot and he doesn't believe the police account.

Neal said Watie was not combative, would run away from fights and that he would never chase officers pointing guns at him.